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As far as I can tell, the technology exists but has not yet been deployed..here's a good article:
Devices scan luggage, shoes for bombs
By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY
Richard Reid tried to blow up a plane with a shoe bomb. The London train bombers used liquid explosives to kill 52 others. Now the federal government is hoping to thwart both types of bombs with technology being tested for the nation's airports.
Senspex's Ram-On bottle scanner can detect dangerous substances in bottles.
Senspex
New devices that scan bottles and shoes for bombs could have far-reaching implications on airport security — and traveler convenience. Machines that read the molecular structure of shoes could someday halt the practice of making people take off their shoes for security checkpoints.
Bottle and shoe technologies are in the early stages of development and could take years to be used in airports. But "we're taking a very proactive approach toward evaluating new, emerging technologies to keep America's traveling public safe," Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Yolanda Clark says.
For instance, a machine that checks 100 suitcases for explosives at once — instead of one at a time — could speed up laborious luggage screening that delays some flights. That machine and others are being funded by recent TSA grants that have given new life to small companies with inventions that could change airport security.
The research comes as pressure mounts on the TSA to improve technology. Lawmakers such as Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., have criticized the agency for screening passengers with "1970s technology" that can't detect plastic bombs or liquid explosives.
London's subway and bus bombings in July involved homemade bombs made of acetone and peroxide — readily available ingredients — that were mixed in plastic containers. The TSA currently has no equipment specifically designed to check liquids. The Homeland Security Department inspector general warned this year that screeners were not getting better at finding weapons and that improvements may require new technology.
The TSA's "Manhattan II" project has given 10 companies $10 million total to improve luggage scanning. Other companies are building machines on their own, hoping to attract TSA interest.
"After 9/11, funding for new ideas in airport security disappeared. All the money at TSA was used to implement the existing technology," says David Fine, president of CyTerra Corp.
A $465,000 TSA grant last year enabled Fine's Orlando-based company to resume research on a machine that speeds up luggage scanning.
"For the first time," Fine says, "people with new ideas have the opportunity to explore them." The TSA has solicited ideas on how to find stowaways in airplane cargo holds and people acting suspiciously in airports and train stations.
Clint Seward's bottle-screening machine is being tested at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tenn., following tests at airports in Pittsburgh and Sacramento.
The $20,000 machine, about the size of a laptop, fires microwaves through glass and plastic bottles to detect flammable liquids such as kerosene and nitroglycerin.
Seward, engineering manager at General Dielectric near Boston, had asked the TSA to run tests since 2002.
Another bottle-scanner is being tested in the Homeland Security Department's lab that compares a liquid's molecular structure to a library of about 30 combustible liquids installed in the machine's software.
The $30,000 machine developed by New Mexico-based Senspex employs technology that has long been used in labs.
But with the advent of compact lasers and light-measuring spectrometers, "we can package the system into a smaller footprint that can be used outside the lab," says Senspex vice president Janelle Anthone.
Many developing technologies are aimed at speeding up security screening.
GE Security designed a Shoe Scanner that will "enhance the flow" of passengers through checkpoints, says Jay Hill, the company's technology chief. Instead of removing shoes, passengers would stand on a machine for a few seconds while a highly sensitive radio-frequency coil looks for explosives.
But a key challenge is whether machines can withstand the rigors of airports.
The TSA recently tested a shoe scanner used in other countries but found that when 25 testers took turns standing on it in a lab, the equipment started wearing down.
Speed is vital in luggage scanning. Machines bought after 9/11 have drawn complaints at airports such as Washington Dulles International for scanning luggage too slowly and delaying flights.
The problem: TSA luggage scanners use X-rays to look inside bags.
They identify possible explosives by their density. That causes a lot of false alarms for objects such as peanut butter and requires a security screener to inspect every suitcase that sets off an alarm.
CyTerra is building a machine that uses pressure to squeeze explosives particles out of aluminum containers that hold up to 100 suitcases. Hundreds of bags could be checked in minutes.
Physicist Bogdan Maglich proposes another solution — the same one used by the U.S. military to find buried land mines.
Maglich, CEO of HiEnergy Technologies of Irvine, Calif., says his $500,000 machine finds suitcase bombs in six to 10 seconds by analyzing the chemical composition of materials.
But it may not be ready for an airport.
Maglich says the TSA wants to detect 300 grams of explosives — about two-thirds of a pound- and his machine is "more comfortable with 2 pounds."
Now Maglich is waiting to hear whether the TSA will give him $450,000 for more research.
"According to TSA, nothing can be expected until 2009. According to us, we can do it in a much shorter time — a year," Maglich says. "It depends on how much money we get."
Devices scan luggage, shoes for bombs
By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY
Richard Reid tried to blow up a plane with a shoe bomb. The London train bombers used liquid explosives to kill 52 others. Now the federal government is hoping to thwart both types of bombs with technology being tested for the nation's airports.
Senspex's Ram-On bottle scanner can detect dangerous substances in bottles.
Senspex
New devices that scan bottles and shoes for bombs could have far-reaching implications on airport security — and traveler convenience. Machines that read the molecular structure of shoes could someday halt the practice of making people take off their shoes for security checkpoints.
Bottle and shoe technologies are in the early stages of development and could take years to be used in airports. But "we're taking a very proactive approach toward evaluating new, emerging technologies to keep America's traveling public safe," Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Yolanda Clark says.
For instance, a machine that checks 100 suitcases for explosives at once — instead of one at a time — could speed up laborious luggage screening that delays some flights. That machine and others are being funded by recent TSA grants that have given new life to small companies with inventions that could change airport security.
The research comes as pressure mounts on the TSA to improve technology. Lawmakers such as Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., have criticized the agency for screening passengers with "1970s technology" that can't detect plastic bombs or liquid explosives.
London's subway and bus bombings in July involved homemade bombs made of acetone and peroxide — readily available ingredients — that were mixed in plastic containers. The TSA currently has no equipment specifically designed to check liquids. The Homeland Security Department inspector general warned this year that screeners were not getting better at finding weapons and that improvements may require new technology.
The TSA's "Manhattan II" project has given 10 companies $10 million total to improve luggage scanning. Other companies are building machines on their own, hoping to attract TSA interest.
"After 9/11, funding for new ideas in airport security disappeared. All the money at TSA was used to implement the existing technology," says David Fine, president of CyTerra Corp.
A $465,000 TSA grant last year enabled Fine's Orlando-based company to resume research on a machine that speeds up luggage scanning.
"For the first time," Fine says, "people with new ideas have the opportunity to explore them." The TSA has solicited ideas on how to find stowaways in airplane cargo holds and people acting suspiciously in airports and train stations.
Clint Seward's bottle-screening machine is being tested at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tenn., following tests at airports in Pittsburgh and Sacramento.
The $20,000 machine, about the size of a laptop, fires microwaves through glass and plastic bottles to detect flammable liquids such as kerosene and nitroglycerin.
Seward, engineering manager at General Dielectric near Boston, had asked the TSA to run tests since 2002.
Another bottle-scanner is being tested in the Homeland Security Department's lab that compares a liquid's molecular structure to a library of about 30 combustible liquids installed in the machine's software.
The $30,000 machine developed by New Mexico-based Senspex employs technology that has long been used in labs.
But with the advent of compact lasers and light-measuring spectrometers, "we can package the system into a smaller footprint that can be used outside the lab," says Senspex vice president Janelle Anthone.
Many developing technologies are aimed at speeding up security screening.
GE Security designed a Shoe Scanner that will "enhance the flow" of passengers through checkpoints, says Jay Hill, the company's technology chief. Instead of removing shoes, passengers would stand on a machine for a few seconds while a highly sensitive radio-frequency coil looks for explosives.
But a key challenge is whether machines can withstand the rigors of airports.
The TSA recently tested a shoe scanner used in other countries but found that when 25 testers took turns standing on it in a lab, the equipment started wearing down.
Speed is vital in luggage scanning. Machines bought after 9/11 have drawn complaints at airports such as Washington Dulles International for scanning luggage too slowly and delaying flights.
The problem: TSA luggage scanners use X-rays to look inside bags.
They identify possible explosives by their density. That causes a lot of false alarms for objects such as peanut butter and requires a security screener to inspect every suitcase that sets off an alarm.
CyTerra is building a machine that uses pressure to squeeze explosives particles out of aluminum containers that hold up to 100 suitcases. Hundreds of bags could be checked in minutes.
Physicist Bogdan Maglich proposes another solution — the same one used by the U.S. military to find buried land mines.
Maglich, CEO of HiEnergy Technologies of Irvine, Calif., says his $500,000 machine finds suitcase bombs in six to 10 seconds by analyzing the chemical composition of materials.
But it may not be ready for an airport.
Maglich says the TSA wants to detect 300 grams of explosives — about two-thirds of a pound- and his machine is "more comfortable with 2 pounds."
Now Maglich is waiting to hear whether the TSA will give him $450,000 for more research.
"According to TSA, nothing can be expected until 2009. According to us, we can do it in a much shorter time — a year," Maglich says. "It depends on how much money we get."
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